Early Smokeless Powder

Powder Cans with load data

DO NOT USE THIS AS MODERN LOAD DATA

UPDATED 2/16/2023, 7:15am

Transition from the Black Powder era to the Smokeless Powder Era 

1892-1896  The developing years

The US Military tested many smokeless powders between 1892 and 1896. Wetteren powder had been their "Standard" base of which other powders were compared. By mid 1894, nearly 200,000lbs of Peyton powder had been used or stored for use with the .30 cal. .308 cartridges. Mostly only designated by test numbers, formulas constantly changing, it really is not known what powder designated names were actually used. At one point Leonard N7/16 looks just like Sharpshooter granulars. By 1895 Peyton powders were the powders of choice and some 5,000lbs more ordered. Whistler & Aspinwall specifically named and a designation of W.-A. was used. By 1896 the military was still testing "Samples" from quite a few companies but had contracts (1896-1897) for three; Peyton, Dupont and W.-A. (Leonard) now controlled by Laflin & Land. Ruby was mentioned a few times but seems to have been tested in larger cannon type rifles and mortars.

1897 details more testing for the .30 and both .45 & .38 Colts. Several powders for the two later but Dupont No.1 named caught my attention. This could be the new (green can) No.1 that looks like sharpshooter and not the old No.1 (red powder keg) that is rock looking granulars. However, A few notes in 1899, I see Dupont is described as a cylindrical graphite black with dark green tinge. .053 in length and .041 in diameter. Laflin & Rand W.A. is noted with the dash removed. The .38 was using a few powders, Dupont No. 1, No. 2 as well as Laflin & Rand "Sporting Powder".

I think it would be safe to conclude that of the three powder companies under contract, the following would be used for the civilian market for the .30 caliber type cartridges.

​

• Peyton S.P. - (Smokeless Rifle Powder)(unknown Granular)(Deemed Secret Ingredients)

• Dupont S.P. - (No. 1 Rifle Smokeless Powder)(cylindrical shape)(Deemed Secret Ingredients)

• Laflin & Rand W.A.S.P - (disc shape)(Deemed Secret Ingredients)(W.A. 30 to the public)(Deemed Secret Ingredients)

"S.P." could stand for "Sporting Powder", as "Sporting Powder" is mention numerous times in the reports.

​

Most granular samples I have for the civilian market appear to be perforated disc powders which appear to have been popular as "Sharpshooter" smokeless powder from 1897 to 1948....That is 50 Years!!!!!!

Of course, the 30-30 was manufactured by Winchester in 1894 using a smokeless rifle powder of which I have little information as of this update

 Looking at some 30-30 "Short Range" factory loads, (obsolete by the 1920's) maybe from Winchester's 1896 catalog as, cal. 30-6-100   (.30 caliber - 6 grs. smokeless - 100 gr. bullet). Here is an insert from John Kort; "Based on my ballistic testing using the powder taken from original cartridges,I found that they effectively duplicated the .32-20, an excellent small game cartridge. No doubt, that's what Winchester had in mind". John also dissected and studied those early cartridges. He found some early powders "to be translucent stick powders", of origin was not stated. Maybe some early "xxxxite" powders deriving from the "cordite" type powers. To continue, Some short range cartridges John dissected produced the following;

​100gr bullets - 4.4gr of Bulleseye/5.0gr of Walsrode/ or 9.0gr of Dupont No.2 "Bulk" (which would be of the off-white/beige rock texture)

117gr bullets - 6.0gr of Ballistie/6.0gr of Walsrode, 7.0gr of Shultz/ or 7.0gr of Marksman

​Ballistite was from the Cordite family..."spaghetti-like rods initially called "cord powder"... and is probably that brownish translucent powder John mentions

44-40 Smokeless Powders

Pre-1900

Bulk "blonde in color" powder

It is rather difficult to follow the dates of these powders with the exception of when they were introduced. The below photoed powders are not necessarily in any specific order, however  I did try to list the oldest used first, Dupont and Laflin & Rand appear to be the three earliest powders I can find;

• 1894 - Dupont's No.2 Smokeless Rifle Powder

• 1896 - Laflin & Rand's "Sporting Rifle Powder"

• 1897 - Laflin & Rand's "Sharpshooter"

 The "Sharpshooter" powder (1897), probably being the more forgiving , was also approved specifically for "Black Powder Rifles".

Laflin & Rand "Sporting Rifle Powder" shows use specifically for "Rifle and Revolver" on the can but we also find Winchester factory ammunition loads were not approved for use in revolvers until at least 1909. I wonder if this has anything to do with Sharpshooter being introduced in this time frame? [Sharpshooer introduced in 1907 by L&R, then to Dupont after L&R destroyed by fire, then to Hercules by 1909 due to a law suit]

The Laflin & Rand "Sporting Powder" shows a load for 17gr for the 44-40 which is the same as Dupont's "No.2" 44-40 load data of 17gr.

Ironically it seems even before the smokeless powder was "proven" for revolvers, Winchester had already developed the "High Velocity" loads by 1903(Yellow labels). Both Dupont and Hercules "Sharpshooter" shows a High Velocity load in the load data on the back of the can. It also is amusing to me that by the time Winchester removed the "Not for Revolvers" from the smokeless powder (Red label) boxes by 1909, the 1910 "High Velocity" (Yellow label) loads show to 18,000cup indicating that the smokeless powder rifle loads were way in advance of the smokeless powder revolver loads.

Food for thought,

Colt seemed to be having a difficult time with the transition from black powder to smokeless powder. Even though Unique and Bullseye were introduced by 1900, they were still formulated from shotgun powder "Infalible" and I guess it took another ten years to transition for revolver use. I have not explored that venue yet. Unique and Infallible were made from the exact same formula, the only difference being the granulation. 

Dupont early smokeless powders that were the bulk and "blonde in color";

• Shotgun Smokeless

• Smokeless Rifle No. 1

• Smokeless Rifle No. 2 - (44-40, 17gr)

What is "Bulk" smokeless powder?

There really is not a lot of information on this in layman's terms between 1894, when it was introduced for the 30-30, and 1911 when smokeless was really starting to take off. One of the earlier mentions I can find is in the 1902 American Rifleman's Encyclopedia, published by Peter's Cartridge Company. 

• Powders-The powders used by riflemen are of three types ; namely, black, semi-smokeless, and smokeless, the latter frequently called nitro powder.  

• Smokeless powders, or nitro powders, are divided into two types. The first is known as the bulk for bulk, meaning its charge corresponds, or nearly so, in bulk to the charge of black powder ; the second is the dense type, which means a charge equaling in strength the black powder charge but denser, or much less in bulk. It should be born in mind that the dense smokeless powder if used in the same bulk quantity as the black or the bulk for bulk smokeless, will likely burst or do damage to the rifle and shooter, for such a charge might mean two or three times the strength of a charge of the other two powders. Most of the accidents with smokeless powders are from this cause. Black powder and bulk for bulk smokeless powder may be safely measured, but the dense type should be weighed, or if measured, done with extreme care, and the charges named by the makers of the powders should not be exceeded. Special primers are recommended for each type of powder. 

So there ya have it, nearly ten years after it was first introduced...right from the definitions from 1902...and right in the middle of the "smokeless powder should not be used in black powder arms, especially Colt's revolvers". 

1893-1930's Dupont Smokeless Shotgun Powder

The Field & Stream issue from Feb. 1899 shows the Two Dog label on the back cover.

1894-1926 Dupont Smokeless Rifle Powder No. 1

It is my understanding that the "photo" labels did not start until 1918

1894-1926 Dupont Smokeless Rifle Powder No. 2

1896-1900 Laflin & Rand Smokeless Sporting Rifle Powder

1897- (1902)1948 Laflin & Rand "Sharpshooter" Smokeless Powder

for "Black Powder" Rifles

1898-Present Laflin & Rand "Bullseye" Smokeless Powder

1900 - Present Laflin & Rand "Unique" Smokeless Powder

1899-1930's Laflin & Rand "Lightning" Smokeless Powder

1909-1911 Dupont RSQ "Resque"

"Revolver, Special Quality" ?